Resolving Grief
by Kazahana Fujikaze
Summary: In which Arietta deals with loss and Sync happens to be there to make things both worse and better.
1. Denial

Part one of five

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****Denial**

Arietta only pretends to not know the truth. It's a form of coping and it has saturated her memory almost entirely as reality. It is an illusion that Van and the God-Generals have no intention of shattering as long it keeps her stable and enables them to further their plans.

She knows that Ion is dead. The girl is not as cluelessly naive as everyone believes, she is not as stupid and childish as Anise continually says in order to taunt her. It is logical and answers all the questions she has concerning why she is not the one who is at Ion's side now.

But, to actually say that Ion is dead - the pain is too much. It is better to live with the lie. She tells herself is it true until it is, until there is no doubt in her mind that the lie is reality. To say otherwise is a lie, Arietta concludes, Ion is alive and Anise has stolen him away.

"You're a reckless idiot," Sync sneers, "Obsessing over that stupid Ion like he's your entire world. Pathetic."

Arietta glares angrily and throws her stuffed toy at his face.

"Don't insult Ion!" she shouts.

He hurls the toy back and smiles a horrible smile, like he knows something she does not. It's an infuriating smile and he turns away.

"How pathetic, that you can't accept not being with your stupid precious Ion," he laughs, a cold cruel laugh. "Always going on about how you want to go back to him. Well, he doesn't want you around anymore!"

Arietta clutches her stuffed toy tightly and turns away, so she won't see Sync's cruel smile and cry. Those words cut into her heart like a million knives.

"That's a lie!" she shrieks.

"That's right, Arietta." His voice changes and sounds like Ion's, kind and reassuring.

She looks at him in surprise with false hope. "Ion?"

He laughs again, that same awful laugh. "You're so gullible," he sneers.

The Ion she wants is gone, she knows deep down. But Ion everyone speaks and knows of, they're almost exactly alike. If they say he's Ion, then he's Ion.

She'll deny anything that says that Ion is dead when clearly, she rationalizes, he is not. She'll deny it, just like how she'll deny that she is crying at Sync's callous words.

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Author: Apologies if Arietta and Sync appear out of character. I'm working on it. 


	2. Anger

Part two of five

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****Anger**

"Screwed up again, Gloomietta?"

Sync has that cruel smile on his face as she sulks in the meeting room, waiting for Van to reprimand her for her reckless behavior. The strategist of the six God-Generals flips through the pages of a book, sitting off the side near a window.

"Shut up!" she shouts.

She's angry and it's clear that he's antagonizing her for his own amusement. And he has to use stupid Anise's nickname. Dist floats in and, noting the aura of discontent, decides that he doesn't want to bother with two unstable teenagers who ignore him anyways. Instead, he floats back out to wait for Van and the other God-Generals to arrive.

"Why should I?" comments Sync, "It's the truth, isn't it? You weren't supposed to attack Asch's replica and his stupid friends there, but you decided that your precious stupid Ion was too important to wait. You screwed up the plan."

"Shut up!" she repeats.

She covers her ears.

"And stop insulting Ion! He's not stupid like you!"

The book suddenly snaps shut and it's unusually quiet. Sync walks right up to her, his footsteps echoing in the large room.

"Not stupid like me..." he remarks in a very quiet voice, "... What makes you so sure about that?"

She doesn't like that tone. "Ion is kind! You're just mean and weird! You always wear that stupid mask and say mean things! You're nothing compared to Ion."

He backs away and frowns.

"I'm nothing compared to Ion," he repeats in a cold quiet voice, "How much of that is true, I wonder?"

Sync slams a hand onto a nearby table and suddenly grabs her head with his other hand, forcing her to look at him. "How would you like to see what's behind my stupid mask?"

Arietta tenses and tries, in vain, to turn away. There is no mistake that he's absolutely furious.

"You and your precious stupid Ion!" he says, fury flooding into his voice, "Don't you dare compare me to him! You can't possibily comprehend what you're saying, you fool!"

He reaches up towards his mask to pull it off, but the door suddenly opens and Legretta and Largo appear. With their sudden arrival, he shoves her over onto the floor instead. Ariettta can see his sneer before he turns towards the windows and smashes his fist through a pane of glass. Nobody speaks.

"Don't ever compare me to Ion again," Sync repeats, his voice incongruently devoid of emotion.

The other God-Generals frown. Arietta is paralyzed with an inexplicable fear; her mind is completely blank as Largo helps her up and Legretta forces Sync out of the room. She silently watches him leave with a bloody arm and a sort of rage she's afraid to see again.

It is only after after he leaves that she sees the glittering fragments of broken glass and realizes he has left her with a dreadful sense of curiosity.

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Author: Thank you for the reviews. I wasn't sure if this would be any good... Ah, and can anyone guess what the title of part three will be? 


	3. Bargaining

Part three of five

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Bargaining**

After losing his temper, he no longer taunts her as usual. Instead, Sync has taken to coldly ignoring her. He no longer sneers at her and says not a word to her.

Dist delights in the fact that Sync has finally learned to shut up, but becomes agitated when Sync decides to make Dist the new target of his cruel mockery. The new development affects nobody else in particular and changes none of the dynamics of the group, so Dist finds no help from any of the other God-Generals, who simply turn a blind eye and deaf ear. Of course, Dist records it all in his revenge diary, but Sync rips pages from it when Dist isn't looking.

"Apologize to him!" Dist shouts at her, "I can't stand him anymore!"

Arietta ignores Dist (as everyone does unless it is absolutely necessary not to) and avoids Sync. She won't admit it, but she's afraid of him now. It's scarier that he says nothing at all, the only part of his exposed face only ever shows an unreadable expression like he is a mindless replica.

That he does not mock and antagonize her now leaves her not with relief, but a horrible unsettling feeling, like she has missed something important and won't ever know what it is. It is like a wager that was made without being accepted and now its possible consequences will never come to pass.

"It's that mask," she mutters to herself, "His stupid stupid mask."

She had never seen his face before. Why not? Arietta couldn't think of a reason. After all, the others must have seen his face at some point... but when Arietta asks them, they brush her off and avoid the topic. She becomes fixated with the thought and becomes the source of irritation. Her one apparent opportunity to find out why he wore that ridiculous mask was gone, especially now that he ignored her all the time, as though she did not exist.

When she finally runs into him in hallway, she steps on his foot; he couldn't possibly dismiss such a deliberate action entirely. Sync stops only for a moment, to frown angrily. But before he walks away, Arietta grabs his unbandaged arm.

"Take it off!"

As she looks at his masked face, Arietta's agitation has reached its peak. What very little of his face she can see looks puzzled and he remains silent.

"That stupid mask of yours!" she shouts, "I'm sick of it!"

He stands impassively, not moving, not reacting at all to her words.

"Show me what's behind that stupid mask of yours!" she demands angrily.

A smirk slowly forms on his face, a horrible familiar expression that Arietta remembers associating with dread.

"Are you sure you really want to see?" he says, "What are you willing to give me?"

"What?"

He raises his arm and turns his head slightly to the side to look at his bandaged hand, moving his fingers without wincing. The smirk disappears for a moment, as though he was bored.

"You're asking to see a terrible thing," he says almost thoughtfully, "I'm not going to show it to you for nothing. I'm not taking the blame for what happens to a fool like you."

Sync tilts his head just so she can almost see his eyes, his face still mostly obscured in the shadow of the mask. The smirk re-emerges and there's a strange glint in what little of his eyes she can see.

"After all, I'm not the sort who does stupid things more than once," Sync comments, "Unlike you, Gloomietta."

She tightens her grip. The fact that it's forbidden only makes her irritated. But if she doesn't see his face, she won't be able to stop thinking about it. And it annoys her that everyone believes her to be too stupid to accept such trivial matters, like the appearance of Sync's stupid face.

"I won't tell anyone," she promises, "Just take off that stupid mask!"

"Really?" he says, "Not Van? Or Legretta or Largo?"

"I won't tell anyone! Nobody else!" she says almost pleadingly, "You said you'd show me! I need to see!"

"Need to see or want to see? Those are different things." He starts to laugh. "But, if you put it that way, then I'm absolved of any responsibility."

Sync shakes off her hand, but then grabs her arm and twists it. He bends over so that they are at eye level and all Arietta can see are the odd patterns on his mask.

"Now, look closely," he orders in a strangely kind voice, one that sounds far too much like Ion's. "You only get to look once."

He removes his mask quickly, without any hesitation. Arietta doesn't realize her face has gone completely ashen with shock as Sync smiles at her with a cold cruel smile, the same one Ion once wore when he thought she wasn't around to see it.

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Author: I didn't realize I went too far with Sync last time; all I considered was what would happen if Arietta hit all the wrong notes.


	4. Depression

Part four of five

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**Depression**

Illusions are always so very fragile. When an inconsistency is found, it is only a matter of time before it breaks; like a small flaw in a pane of glass, it will continue to grow so very subtly until it cannot be ignored. The cracks will be seen and the glass will break.

Arietta decides there is no point is lying to herself any longer. Instead of letting the illusory shell around crumble, she had allowed a steel hammer to strike upon it, and without a doubt, it shattered, leaving her to be splintered by the shards.

Why did Sync look just like Ion? She did not want to answer that question, even if she already knew the answer. She would not be able to cope. It did not matter if the question could be answered or not, she decides, because there is no point in living.

Her ligers were concerned when their mistress returned to her room with a dazed expression. They would have dismissed it if she had returned to her usual self, but she did not. Instead, Arietta curled up on her bed, pulled the blankets around her and stared at the wall. Crouching near her bed, they hope their presence would comfort their mistress. They could hear her sniffling and saw her jerking her arm under the sheets as she wept.

"He looks just like Ion," she whispers to her ligers, "It's impossible, but he looks just like Ion. It's impossible."

She repeats it over and over again. She can do nothing but lament and rue how she insisted on seeing Sync's face. There were truths that she could deny, but this was a reality that could not be masked. She tells them everything very quietly, since they cannot repeat what she promised not to tell. The creatures cannot respond to her with kind comforting words, they cannot find a way to express a means to alleviate her despair.

She remains in her room for days. There is no point in leaving, no point in doing anything. Nobody else knows the truth, except Sync. But she will honour her agreement because she was the one who insisting on seeing the truth, regardless of the consequences. Arietta did not think things through, as usual, and what she ends up with are painful unexpected results. But there is no point, she repeats over and over again. She sobs herself to sleep when nobody is around. She doesn't know how to go on.

Largo tries to comfort her, but his words have no effect.

"It might help," he tells her, "If you talk about it."

She shakes her head again and again.

"It won't help," she whispers, "It won't help. There's no point in talking. There's no point at all."

"You have to overcome it," Largo tries again, "Being depressed won't improve anything."

"Why bother?" she asks.

"Was it Sync? Did he say something to you?"

She doesn't answer.

"I'll talk to Sync."

"NO! It's pointless!"

Largo is stunned.

However, she has no intention of going back on her word. Telling would do little to help. Nothing would come from it. The illusion is gone - she has to acknowledge it was an illusion in the end, it cannot be denied any longer.

"Arietta?"

"Leave me alone!"

After a moment, Largo decides to take her words to heart and leaves her alone as she wallows in her depression. She does not speak to anyone after that - though she appreciated Largo's sympathies, she did not want them because she felt nothing at all from any of his comforting words, no relief or hope. All Arietta can think about again and again is how Sync looks like Ion, how Ion once smiled a cold cruel smile when he thought she could not see it, and realizes how alike Ion and Sync really are.

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Author: Believe it or not, I support AriettaxSync. I'm probably just: 1. Channeling repressed sadistic tendencies through Sync and 2. Just don't want to write a... saccharine story.


	5. Acceptance

Part five of five

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**Acceptance**

The Ion she wants is kind. The Ion that Anise is supposed to protect is just like that. He is not her Ion, even though she says and acts as though he is. She can pretend that forever. He looks like her Ion, he treats her the same way her Ion did. The fact the Ion who isn't really her Ion is her Ion is a true fact; it is as real as the illusions she has believed for so long. But no amount of bargaining will change the truth.

"Finally coming out of your room, Gloomietta?"

She stares at Sync with very wide blank eyes. He's wearing his mask again, even though there's no point. He's already exposed his face to all the people he was supposed to conceal it from.

"Why are you wearing that stupid mask?" she asks.

He doesn't answer and crosses his arms. There is a frown on his face - that is nothing new.

"Why are you wearing that stupid mask?" she repeats.

Sync continues to stand there, saying nothing as Arietta stares almost expressionlessly at him.

"Because I'm supposed to," he finally replies.

She doesn't like it. It's irritating. She's tired of secrets and she's tired of denying things. She's angry that everyone treats her like a fool or doesn't care enough to treat her otherwise. She has no more tears to shed over the matter.

"Take it off," Arietta orders.

"Why should I?" he snaps.

"Because everyone knows what you look like now!" she snaps right back, "I'm sick of that stupid mask! You're so stupid, hiding that stupid face of yours."

"Stupid face," he jeers, "Whose stupid face are you insulting?"

"Your stupid face!" she shouts, "The one you hide behind a stupid mask!"

"What'll you do if I don't?"

Arietta isn't prepared for that and is suddenly silent.

"Don't you care that I look like your precious stupid Ion?" he says scornfully, "Or have you already forgotten?"

"You don't look like him at all," she retorts, "You look like you. I won't compare you to Ion."

He stops speaking. Sync stands there without a word, as though shocked. He is stock still for an instant. Very slowly, his hands move to his face and he removes the mask, dropping it on the floor. It falls quietly, without any sort of real clattering noise, subtle and easily ignored.

"Is that what you really think?" he says, "Are you blind or is your memory that bad?"

His voices lacks its usual caustic edge. She can see his face is twisted, as though confused, unhappy and surprised, with other undefinable emotions mixed into his expression. He glares at her, but the effect it should have seems lost. There is no cold fury, as Arietta had anticipated, none at all.

"I don't care," she scoffs, "I don't care about your stupid face."

She sees a strange sort of smile, one without malice, form on his face. His eyes are still cold and the smile doesn't match. It fades away quickly and is replaced with a scowl. But she is certain that she saw a smile almost form, however, small and faint.

"You're the stupid one," Sync remarks, "You're the one who's hiding things."

"No, I'm not," she says quietly, "I'm not. I'm not."

The maskless Sync stares at her almost with pity, the same sort of pity Ion once looked at her with. Arietta says nothing.

"Fine."

Arietta is relieved when he says nothing more, neither mocking her foolish ignorance or coldly ignoring her with a silent grudge. There is nothing more to be said and he leaves to her fragile reality. She can accept this reality.

He reminds her of the truth, without it being said. That it no longer needs to be said means she does not need to deny it any longer. He will not lie to her, not like Ion. Sync will show his cruel smiles every time, even when it hurts her, because it will hurt her. It is a disturbing form of kindness she did not understand until now. She can move forward, even if she still wishes she was by Ion's side.

But Sync is here. She is here. They walk down the hall together in silence, without any argument or unspeakable truths between them.

It is enough, Arietta tells herself as they walk side by side. It is enough.

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Author: The answer of the question at the end of chapter 2 is related to the Kübler-Ross model. Wiki it.

Finished this ending long enough ago, but didn't think this was suitable enough an ending and did nothing. *Wince*Bows* Until next time.


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